The top three phones for overall video quality are almost completely different from the top three for still-image quality. The Motorola Photon 4G, which shoots 1080p video, snagged the number one spot with an overall score of 84.8--significantly higher than our second- and third-place phones.

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The HTC Sensation (which also took second place in our image-quality tests) received a video score of 80.5, while the Motorola Droid 3 earned a mark of 80.4. Surprisingly, the MyTouch 4G Slide didn’t even rank among our top five camera phones for video, managing just a ninth-place score of 75.2. To be fair, many of the phones that ranked above it scored only a few tenths of a point more. The lowest-scoring phone for video across the board was the Motorola Triumph, with a diabolical score of 66.6.

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None of the phones did well in our low-light video test, which wasn't unexpected. Have you ever tried to shoot a concert, or your friends in a low-lit restaurant or bar, with a phone? The results usually don’t look so great. Surprisingly, the Motorola XPRT, which was fairly middle-of-the-road in all of our tests, shot the highest-rated low-light video of our test group, with a score of 78.2.

The LG Optimus 3D scored the highest for audio quality, with a score of 79.4. The phone with the lowest audio-quality score for video was the Motorola Triumph, at 64.2.

Conclusion

When it comes to still photos, the MyTouch 4G Slide is hard to beat. Not only did it score very well in our image-quality tests, but it also comes with a slew of shooting and editing features, and it's one of the fastest phone cameras in shutter response. The Photon is the phone to buy if you plan on shooting a lot of video, but don’t expect superb results in low-light situations. It does have the added bonus of an HDMI port, so you can view those lovely video clips on your HDTV.

We’ll continue to do testing throughout the year, and we'll update our test results as we get in new phones. In the meantime, be sure to check out our slideshow of our favorite Android photo apps to get the most out of your phone’s camera.